Spanish Interest Rates | Mortgage Solutions 4 Spain

Interest Rate Indices for Spanish Mortgages

The vast majority of Spanish Mortgages are variable rate mortgages which track a given interest rate index. Fixed rate mortgages are rare due to regulatory reasons but a few banks offer fixed rates for up to 5 years before reverting to a variable rate.

The main interest rate index used by the majority of lenders in Spain (and other Euro zone countries) is Euribor. This is an inter-bank rate and all banks add a margin to this rate to set the interest rate on the mortgage.

Depending on the lender and the mortgage chosen, the Euribor rate will be reset:

Monthly; or
Quarterly; or
Semi-annually; or
Annually

A typical margin for a straight non-resident repayment mortgage is Euribor plus 1% but this can go as low as 0.6% or as high as 2%, depending on the type of mortgage and the lender.

A few banks still use the older IRPH index which is more closely tied to the performance of the Spanish economy. IRPH is usually higher but less volatile than Euribor. The higher base rate is usually offset by a lower margin.